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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. chip — to eat
  4. swing — to play on
  5. tear — from crying
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. wound — an injury
  8. board — to get on
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. board — a committee
  11. chip — for betting
  12. snap — to click
  13. wound — an injury
  14. mine — for digging
  15. game — a match
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. game — wild animals
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. tear — from crying
  22. swing — music
  23. tear — to rip
  24. swing — in golf

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com